••• UC Santa Barbara announced that it’s the buyer—as rumored here two weeks ago—of the new, 78-unit Soltara apartment building (on E. Gutierrez between State and Anacapa), which it plans to use for “workforce rental housing in a prime downtown location—at economically viable rates for campus staff and faculty members. Approximately 65% of the units are currently occupied and those leases will be honored as written. The remaining units—and any that become vacant over time—will be available for rent by university faculty and staff members.” The property also includes the Reid’s appliance store on Gutierrez, which has five years left on its lease (and beyond that is not addressed in the press release), and—most intriguingly—the 18,000-square-foot commercial space on State Street that used to be a Staples store. “A UC Santa Barbara storefront on State Street—the space is large enough to house multiple uses—presents a host of possibilities. It could serve as event space for lectures and performances, co-work offices, or a community-supporting innovation hub and maker space. There could be a retail component, or spaces for meetings and conferences.”
••• If you missed the Air Force’s recent public meetings about concerns with space launches—and in particular, the possibly of doubling the number of them—you can also submit comments via info@VSFBFalconLaunchEIS.com or an online comment form before January 27.
••• Solvang is getting one of Danish artist Thomas Dambo‘s giant troll sculptures. From a California Nature Art Museum press release: “Internationally renowned Danish artist and recycling activist Thomas Dambo and his crew of international and local volunteer builders [will construct] the 154th Thomas Dambo troll inside the Museum’s front tower. The new troll will be the State of California’s first permanent troll, and the first to reside indoors, anywhere around the globe. The Solvang troll will debut to the public on Sunday, February 2. […] More than 80 wooden pallets donated by local businesses and wineries, as well as approximately 30 wooden wine barrels of various sizes, will be upcycled to craft ‘her,’ the troll’s gender being the only detail released prior to her reveal.” The photo below, of an existing troll, is by Emily Wilson and courtesy Thomas Dambo.
••• The January 24 agenda for the South Board of Architectural Review has something I’ve never seen: the owners of the home at 1210 Franklin Ranch Road in Goleta are proposing to add a “new meeting facility and associated parking lot of approximately 2,655 square feet” to the 22.62-acre lot.
••• The M Solvang hotel has changed its name to The Marlo and has temporarily closed, with an eye toward reopening in a couple of months.
••• I stopped by The Post to check out two new shops—if you haven’t been, the complex is coming together nicely, with more signage and other branding. The first shop was Teller, which sells multiple brands of women’s apparel and is quite airy and pretty. More merch, including jewelry, is on the way.
The second shop was The Great, which offers its own brand of women’s and kids’ apparel, along with some fun home decor. It’s also very attractive, and both shops are larger than I would’ve guessed from the outside.
You may have noticed the parking attendant at the entrance to the lot. Post cofounder David Fishbein said the attendant is there to help people find their way, and also because when Runyon took over the property, people were parking cars there overnight. A sign says that the first two hours or parking are free, so I asked whether the plan is to start charging at some point. He said that they may offer valet parking at night once the restaurant (Ospi) opens this spring, and if parking becomes a problem during the day, they could entertain the possibility of requiring validation from one of the businesses, à la the Brentwood Country Mart.
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